nervous about sex

[bloody-words.livejournal.com]

I have been dating my boyfriend almost a year now, and we both enjoy having sex with each other but within the last 4 months or so I have become very paranoid about getting pregnant. Because of this I haven't been enjoying sex as much, and don't want to at all sometimes just because I am so afraid of getting pregnant.

We use condoms every time and he's very careful with using them, but I still can't seem to shake the thought in the back of my mind. I spoke with my doctor and because of some past health problems in my family she said I shouldn't be on hormonal birth control.

Also, I normally weigh about 115-120 and anytime my weight fluctuates or I think something has changed about my body, I automatically think I'm pregnant and start to freak out. Lately I've been feeling kind of sick, and I freak myself out even more then.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any pointers on how I can keep my mind off this and start enjoying sex again. Or if anyone has had similar experiences and what you do about it?

Comments

[velochicdunord.livejournal.com]

Educate, educate, educate yourself. Tori Weschler's _Taking Charge of your Fertility_, which talks about Fertility Awareness is an excellent way to avoid your fertile days or, if you want to conceive, to take advantage of them. It involves keeping track of your body temp at a consistent time each day, and charting it. Takes some discipline.

For about $20 - $30 at the drug store, in the baby supplies and prophylactics section (condoms and others) you should be able to find a saliva scope. This is a little gizmo for checking the hormonal changes in your saliva that indicate a fertile period - or not. It's pretty simple; a ferning pattern or crystalization indicates that you're fertile. No pattern is a pretty safe inidcation that you're not.

If you use those two in combination, you'll be very aware of what your body is doing - and not doing.

On other topics, is there any reason that you're _not_ using a birth control method beyond condoms? The anxiety is not going to go away until you feel you have a firm grip on things. Anxiety is your body and mind's way of saying "danger! danger!"

[bloody-words.livejournal.com]

thank you very much for the information. understanding more would help ease my mind. thank you for the pointers on where to get started.